Fight Song- We Don't Give Up
by CelestialAuthor
Summary: When Serena fails at another Pokemon Showcase it's up to Ash to try and find a way to inspire her to be the future Kalos Queen he knows she can be... AmourShipping- Ash X Serena


Fight Song- We Don't Give Up

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Up on stage Serena had sent her Eevee too far over to one side of the performance area.

The Pokemon slipped, and a collective gasp sounded from the audience. Clemont covered his eyes with his hands, Bonnie burried her face into her big brother's chest and Ash's eyes widened in shock and horror. Eevee looked up to find the entire crowd's eyes trained keenly on her, and she let out a defeated whimper before sprinting off past Serena.

"Eevee! Wait!" Serena yelled out as the Pokemon ran past her. Without a second glance at the silent crowd before her and thinking only about of making sure her Eevee was okay, Serena set off after her Eevee.

Later that evening at the Pokemon centre, Ash was stood by the window overlooking Lumiose City. He was brought back to his senses by a gentle knocking on the door.

"It's open," Ash called out. He heard the door being opened and Clemont's voice.

"We've brought you both some dinner, seeing as we didn't see you down there earlier," Clemont said.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You and Serena," Bonnie explained.

"I thought Serena was with you?" Ash questioned.

"She told us she was gonna be with you."

Ash turned around to face his friends, seeing that they were indeed right - Serena was not with them, or anywhere to be found. Ash threw his bag onto his back and sprinted out of the room past Clemont and Bonnie, ignoring their protests as he barged them out of his way.

"What's gotten into him?" Clemont asked, setting the plates down and sitting in the vacant chair next to Ash's bed.

"Big brother, you are so dense...Ash likes Serena," Bonnie sighed, bemused at her brothers ignorance towards their friends' feelings for each other. Clemont turned his face away.

"Oh," he muttered.

Serena shivered as a cold wind blew through the park she was hiding in, tears now stinging her cheeks in the chilled evening air.

"Why me? Why did it have to happen again?" she sobbed, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm herself up. She thought back to her two failures at her showcases. Sniffing, she released her Eevee from its Pokeball and into her lap.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Eev, Eev, Eevee."

"I'm so sorry about before," she apologised, knowinng that it was her instructions that caused Eevee to trip. Eevee looked up at her trainer before gently nuzzling Serena's hand. Serena looked down, gently stroking Eevee's fur while still crying, and sighed gently.

Ash was doubled over and panting. It seemed like hours he'd been out searching for his friend. He had circled around everywhere that the group of them had been recently, including Serena's showcase arena, Clemont's Gym. Ash was about to call out his Fletchchinder to help him search when he heard faint sobbing coming from the park just over the road from where he was catching his breath. He ran over to the park and yelled out her name, trying to get Serena's attention.

"I don't think we should enter the next Showcase," Serena admitted, leaning back against Braixen who was standing behind her. Eevee was curled up on her lap and Pancham was stood down on the ground, arms wrapped around her legs.

"Braixen?"

"Eevee, Eev."

"Pan, Pancham, Cham."

"I'm sorry but we can't keep going through this, I don't wanna keep disappointing you. I don't wanna give up but what else can we do?"

"You can start by getting that idea out of your head right now!" Ash snapped at her, stepping out from behind her.

"Ash?! What are you doing here?"

"I was worried about you when you weren't with Bonnie and Clemont so I came out to look for you, I've been all over the city."

"Oh...I'm sorry," Serena apologised. Ash sat down next to her and shifted his body so he could look into her eyes.

"So you're gonna give up with the showcases?"

"Yes - no - I don't know."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay, go ahead and quit," Ash told her.

"Ash! I don't want to keep hurting and disappointing my Pokemon," Serena admitted. Ash looked at the scene in front of him: Serena sitting opposite him still shivering slightly from the cold, Braixen standing behind her, playing with a tuft of her hair, Eevee resting peacefully against her stomach, making sure she was against Serena's bare arms, and Pancham down at Serena's feet, huddled up against her legs. The three Pokemon working together to keep themselves and their trainer warm.

"Serena, you've never hurt or disappointed them."

"But we keep on failing."

"So what? We all fail and fall down but the only important thing is, we get back up and try again."

"That's easy for you to say, I've never seen you fail at anything."

"SO YOU'VE FAILED AT A SHOWCASE, GIVE IT UP THEN. GO BACK HOME AND BECOME A RHYHORN RACER!" Ash yelled, getting annoyed at her. Serena had heard enough and she slapped Ash hard across the face.

"Shut up! Just...Just shut up," she screamed back at him, making Braixen and Eevee jump away from her in surprise. Ash rubbed the spot on his face where Serena had left a large red hand print.

"Wow!" Ash exclaimed. Serena gasped in shock as she realised what she had just done.

"Oh my god! Ash, I'm so sorry."

Ash just smirked at her, evidently pleased that he'd got this reaction out of her.

"Don't be. Don't be sorry for that."

"But I just slapped you," Serena argued.

"Yeah, you did. Why?"

"Because...Because you're telling me to give up on my dream."

"So what? You wanted to give up on it."

"Yeah, well, I'm not going to," Serena growled, with a fierce determination.

"HAH! That's more like it...We don't give up, Serena!" Ash cheered. Serena smiled at him before letting it fade from her face.

"But what if we fail again?"

"Then you just try again and again and again."

"But it just gets too much sometimes, all those people, all the eyes on you. It's so scary," Serena admitted, her head dropping. Ash put an arm around her and pulled her closer to him.

"So you look for me and Pikachu, Clemont and Bonnie, we're always out there and we're always cheering you on. Just look for me. I'll be there and these words right here will be your fight song," Ash comforted her, thinking back to all the times Serena had been there for him during his battles, to cheer him on and give him support when he needed it. Serena always knew the right thing to say to him when he needed to hear it.

Casting his mind back to all those times Serena had been there for him, Ash tilted her chin up and pressed his lips against hers. He pulled away in shock and ran off before leaving Serena there, mouth agape without a chance to respond.

Serena made her way back to the Pokemon Centre, still dazed from Ash's actions. Clemont and Bonnie had retreated into their room for the night before Ash had returned. Serena crept back into their room and sat down on the edge of her bed, opposite Ash who had his head in his hands and Pikachu on his lap.

"Ash?"

"What?"

"About earlier..."

"I'm sorry about that. It was a mistake," Ash mumbled.

"Oh...Okay."

One month later

Serena stood up on stage, Braixen and Pancham by her side, looking out over the crowd.

"What's happening? Why hasn't she started yet?" Bonnie asked, worried that Serena seemed to be stuck in place, frozen on the stage. It wasn't just Bonnie; there were murmurings coming from the crowd. Serena gulped and tried to push them from her mind. Ash looked around at the crowd, begining to get restless, and back at Serena, getting more nervous by the second.

Without thinking, Ash stood up, rising high above the rest of the audience. He saw her look up to him, and he nodded and yelled out to her.

"SERENA! LISTEN TO ME...YOU CAN DO THIS. REMEMBER YOUR FIGHT SONG! I'M NOT GIVING UP ON YOU. SO DON'T YOU DARE GIVE THIS UP YOURSELF. YOU CAN DO IT!"

Serena looked down at Pancham and Braixen. She took a deep breath.

"We don't give up, that is our fight song!" she repeated, loud enough for her two partners too hear.

"And the winner of the Dendemille City showcase...Serena!" the MC announced.

The crowd roared in appreciation as Serena was handed the princess key for winning. She took it gratefully and ran off stage and into the crowd, ignoring the crowd trying to grab her and congratulate her. She shrugged them off with ease, pushing past everybody to get up to where Clemont, Bonnie and Ash were now on their feet cheering the result. Serena rushed over to Ash, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, leaving Clemont with a stunned and disappointed look on his face and Bonnie with a large smile on hers.

"We did it!" Serena whispered in Ash's ear.

"No, you did it. I'm so proud of you," Ash whispered back, his arms wrapped around her waist.

As Serena felt Ash's arms wrapping around her, she thought back to all the amazing adventures and times they'd shared, going all the way back to their first meeting as little kids back at Professor Oak's summer camp, and she knew one thing for certain.

She was never giving up on Ash Ketchum.


End file.
